Removal of a paint coating from rubber surfaces is desirable and necessary on occasion. The necessity and desirability for removal of the coating can be for several reasons, for example runs in the paint, scratches, flaws, improper painting, and a desire for repainting with paint of an alternate color.
Conventional methods for removal of paints, and in particular, polyether, polyester and polyurethane paints from rubber surfaces have been unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. In some cases the time required for the removal of the paint has been excessive. When known solvent based paint removers have been employed, the cleaned rubber surface has frequently been found to be unreceptive to repainting. Solvent based paint removers can require high temperatures for effective stripping action accompanied by the ancillary problem of undesirable fumes and the hazard of fire. When the paint has eventually been removed from a rubber surface, particularly from a synthetic polyolefin rubber, the surface has required additional treatment, for example irradiation with ultraviolet light, or treatment with an activating solvent, to make it receptive to repainting. Some paint strippers, though effective for removing paint, attack the rubber surface, rendering the surface unsatisfactory for use, and also have the disadvantage of producing noxious fumes or are expensive to use.